International

For more than a decade, the Chinese government has been working to push the Chinese manufacturing sector up the value chain. More recently, the push from the central government has become more formalized, resulting in the 2015 issuance of the State Council manufacturing modernization manifesto: Made in China 2025《中国制造2025》(State Council, July 7, 2015). View Full Post

1. Licensing of asset managers
South African asset managers must register as financial service providers (FSPs) with the Financial Services Board (FSB) under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). Any person carrying on asset management business in South Africa, or from abroad directed at South African clients, whether in a discretionary or non-discretionary capacity must be licensed as an FSP under FAIS. View Full Post

Robert Walsh, sometime Seattle resident and long-time friend of our law firm (we worked on a number of China deals together and we — Dan and Steve — met up with him on our last trip to Myanmar), has spent the last four years in Myanmar, where he operates a vibrant business consultancy. View Full Post

The European Commission released a list of U.S. products on Friday, March 16, that could be subject to tariffs if the President does not exclude the EU from the Section 232 tariffs. The list was released a week after President Trump signed the proclamations to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports, which officially take effect on March 23. View Full Post

As a tsunami of corruption scandals devastates Latin America’s political landscape, it can be easy to dismiss the slow and uncertain steps many countries are taking in the fight against corruption as political jujitsu, enough to appease but not to change. View Full Post

Yesterday, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blacklisted 14 new Russian individuals and the Internet Research Agency as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) for their role interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. While limited in scope, the new designations are the first use of authority under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to sanction Russian parties. View Full Post

The Washington Posthas reported that USCIS is establishing an internal oversight division. The new division’s purpose, in part, would be to monitor more closely officers who are too lenient in assessing applications for permanent residence and citizenship, including overlooking negative factors such as misdemeanors and the receipt of government benefits (e.g., food stamps). View Full Post

On March 15, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated as Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) 2 new persons under an existing Obama-era cyber Executive Order, and 13 new persons under new authority granted by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). View Full Post

On March 6, 2018, representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico wrapped up the seventh round of the ongoing renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico City. As discussed in our prior GT Alert, the negotiations have been ongoing since August 2017, but many important proposals remain largely unaddressed. View Full Post

Beginning in 2015, Mexico has been promulgating sweeping anticorruption legislation. Mexico first laid the groundwork with amendments to the Federal Constitution that created the National Anticorruption System. Then in 2016, Congress passed the National Anticorruption System’s implementing legislation through a series of new laws and important amendments to existing ones. View Full Post